There's plenty of debate about whether the Edmonton Oilers should trade Erik Cole, and lots of buzz he'll be dealt to the Boston Bruins, but I'm told that if the Oilers decide to move Cole by the March 4 trade deadline, a likely scenario is he'll get a return ticket to the Carolina Hurricanes.

While Kevin Dupont of the Boston Globe, who is as connected as any newspaperman in the NHL, and other scribes in-the-know have written about the possibility GM Steve Tambellini will send Cole to Beantown for prospects, I'm led to believe Cole could again be a Hurricane -- the team he spent six seasons with.

I'm not discounting interest in Cole by the Bruins, who are believed to be offering Vladimir Sobotka and Matt Lashoff, because the guys writing about the possibility are as credible as they come.

Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald wrote today: "Rumours persist that the Bruins will acquire gritty veteran winger Erik Cole from the Edmonton Oilers, with one NHL source saying Cole is telling friends he expects to be a Bruin soon. Most speculation focused on Sobotka and defenseman Matt Lashoff as trade bait for the unrestricted free agent-to-be."

Still, I'm told Carolina is in play.

Another conversation?

The Oilers and Hurricanes did business when Kevin Lowe and Carolina counterpart Jim Rutherford did the Cole for Joni Pitkanen swap, and there's every reason to believe Tambellini and Rutherford are talking now.

Cole, as everybody knows, will be an unrestricted free agent this July after earning $4 million this season. I don't see the Oilers making a big pitch to keep him. Even if they do, I don't see Cole accepting it.

So, Tambellini either lets him walk for nothing at the end of the season or gets down to business now. Cole's ties to Tobacco Road aside, a move back to Carolina makes sense.

The Hurricanes just lost forward Justin Williams to a broken hand that'll keep him out at least a month, and Rutherford needs help up front. Cole, despite his offensive struggles here, is a proven commodity on Tobacco Road.

The Oilers, meanwhile, could use help on the back end with Lubomir Visnovsky gone for the season after shoulder surgery and Denis Grebeshkov on the shelf with a high-ankle sprain.

Name game

The interesting thing about a potential Carolina-Edmonton deal is I'm not hearing names who'd fill that void, namely blueliners like Dennis Seidenberg and Anton Babchuk. Then again, the prospects being mentioned in the trade with Boston don't offer an immediate fix, either.

For what it's worth, the name I'm hearing is Tuomo Ruutu, who the Oilers could have had in a swap for Jarret Stoll last summer in a deal Lowe passed on before sending Stoll and Matt Greene to Los Angeles for Visnovsky.

Ruutu, 26, selected ninth overall by Chicago in the 2001 Entry Draft, will be a restricted free agent next season. Ruutu, who has scored 16-17-33 and is a minus-5 in 54 games this season, makes $2.25 million.

On the face of it, moving a young player like Ruutu for Cole looks like an overpayment even if Rutherford is confident he can re-sign him, but perhaps there's other names in play here as well.

Stay tuned.

—Listen to Robin Brownlee every Thursday from 4 to 6pm on Just A Game with Jason Gregor on TEAM 1260.

A sports writer since 1983, including stints at The Edmonton Journal and The Sun 1989-2007, I happily co-host the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260 twice a week and write when so inclined. Have the best damn lawn on the internet. Most important, I am Sam's dad. Follow me on Twitter at Robin_Brownlee. Or don't.

@ The Towel Boy:
First, the Oilers have to make the call that they're willing to trade Cole. Right now, it's about lining up trade partners and seeing who is a fit.
I can see why Lowe might pass on Ruutu last summer if he had irons in the fire with Los Angeles on Visnovsky, but circumstances change.

I believe I heard that Stoll/Ruutu deal was on the table at least year's deadline as well. And it would make sense because the hawks were and still are looking for a pivot.

I'll take a look later on but even if this was perceived by some to be a lateral move at best, Ruutu's making less and he's physical and he might be some kind of gritty-plus-goal scoring in the longterm.

Only thing I'm skittish about is he's putting up his numbers in a garbage division and I'd imagine he's doing it with good linemates.

Still, considering Cole's got history with the Canes and the Oilers have history with Ruutu interest, this one seems to have a lot of legs. And there's also a history of the Oilers acquiring players months and years after we first heard tell of their interest.

A couple weeks back I was listening to the Jim Rome show (for no apparent reason) when Eric Cole called in. The topic of the day was drinking games which professional athletes participate in. When asked by Rome if he participated, Cole said, "Sure, we have 18 and 19 year olds on the team, why not? Besides, what else is there to do up here in Edmonton?" From that moment, I've known that Cole will not resign and I've been hoping for a trade.

I'd say trade Cole for as much as possible, preferrably for someone who'll help the team now, not potentially in a year or two. I'm just glad we're not hearing Cole for Pitkanen rumours again.

A couple weeks back I was listening to the Jim Rome show (for no apparent reason) when Eric Cole called in. The topic of the day was drinking games which professional athletes participate in. When asked by Rome if he participated, Cole said, “Sure, we have 18 and 19 year olds on the team, why not? Besides, what else is there to do up here in Edmonton?” From that moment, I’ve known that Cole will not resign and I’ve been hoping for a trade.
I’d say trade Cole for as much as possible, preferrably for someone who’ll help the team now, not potentially in a year or two. I’m just glad we’re not hearing Cole for Pitkanen rumours again.

Do you know when that was....cause even if it is true(ha ha) he shouldn't say that stuff. Not the city's fault you suck this year.

Hey Robin...what about the Mccammond trade stipulation, whereby a player cannot be traded back to a team within a year from the trade? In the Mccmmond scenario he was forced to sit out the remainder of the year, when Calgary traded for back for him. Seems like a pretty brutal move for the hurricanes if Cole has to sit out the remainder?

@ jon:
That rule had to do with how close McAmmond was traded to the waiver draft I believe. The rule was in place so that teams could not trade a player only to reaquire simply so the player would not be available in the waiver draft.

The waiver draft was done shortly before the season and teams could only protect so many players and everyone else was available to the rest of the league.

Tim S has it right. Here's an excerpt from an explantion from Jim Kelley of the Buffalo News of that particular deal from.

"Seems it always goes this way for the Hockey League. While the right hand is doing exceptionally high quality work — in this case, stabilizing the ownership of the bankrupt Buffalo via negotiating a legal maze made up of one of the more complex purchase agreements in league history — the left hand is turning something that should have been routine into a screw-up.

Witness the case of the illegal trade of one .

McAmmond last week was dealt from the Colorado back to the Calgary , the team the Avs acquired him from earlier this season.

It seemed like a routine transaction and was approved by the NHL until someone happened to notice that the transaction violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement. According to the ruling made by Bill Daly, the NHL Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer: "The traded McAmmond to Colorado on October 1, 2002, three days prior to the NHL Waiver Draft, and Article 13.36 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement states explicitly that 'A player traded by a Club within the four weeks prior to the Waiver Draft may not be reacquired by such Club within the forthcoming season.' "

B-rad wrote:
Do you know when that was….cause even if it is true(ha ha) he shouldn’t say that stuff. Not the city’s fault you suck this year.
It was back in January, can’t remember the exact date, but there was a home game that night. Regardless of the conversation topic or forum, it seemed pretty bush-league to me.

I heard it that day and it was funny ,to me anyways, he was talking about playing beer pong with the young guys. BTW, it was right after Cole's hat trick, whenever that was.

On another note, I would love to see us aquire a player like Tootoo, someone with lots of "jam" (stuipid word), but at least can hit someone. I swear we are the easiest team to play against.
Someone jump in here with a hits/game stat to prove how smart I am.

Big Dave Semenko wrote:
B-rad wrote:
Do you know when that was….cause even if it is true(ha ha) he shouldn’t say that stuff. Not the city’s fault you suck this year.
It was back in January, can’t remember the exact date, but there was a home game that night. Regardless of the conversation topic or forum, it seemed pretty bush-league to me.
I heard it that day and it was funny ,to me anyways, he was talking about playing beer pong with the young guys. BTW, it was right after Cole’s hat trick, whenever that was.
On another note, I would love to see us aquire a player like Tootoo, someone with lots of “jam” (stuipid word), but at least can hit someone. I swear we are the easiest team to play against.
Someone jump in here with a hits/game stat to prove how smart I am.

I agree...with that... I would like to see us toughter on the third and forth. Peckham pumped Lemieux...that makes me warm and fuzzy.

The Oilers have a history of acquiring guys they want a few years down the road after they initially made the push for them - as I'm sure most NHL teams have a shortlist of those kinds of players. Among past examples are:

It wouldn't be out of the question to think the Oilers are still interested in Tuomo Ruutu but in acquiring the RFA does that spell the end of other RFA's in Edmonton ... Mathieu Roy? Rob Schremp? Bryan Young? Ryan O'Marra? Does it mean that the Oilers will be dealing away one of Brule or Potulny?

I'd like to see Ruutu here, we need more sandpaper and since he's a centerman he'd fill that void on the 3rd line just in time for Pisani to come back.

@ Antony Ta:
You're right, and that's a pretty good list, although you left a significant name off it -- Brad Isbister. The Oilers kicked the tires on him for several seasons before they got him. A case of "be careful what you wish for."

HA Isbister... I will never forget the year they showed a picture of him in the paper in training camp... he was standing with no shirt on and getting some sort of Body fat percentage test done or something... Anyway, he looked flabby as hell and all I remember was thinking, "This guy is an athlete?" The next Todd Bertuzzi indeed Mr. Lowe...

Big Dave Semenko wrote:
B-rad wrote:
Do you know when that was….cause even if it is true(ha ha) he shouldn’t say that stuff. Not the city’s fault you suck this year.
It was back in January, can’t remember the exact date, but there was a home game that night. Regardless of the conversation topic or forum, it seemed pretty bush-league to me.
I heard it that day and it was funny ,to me anyways, he was talking about playing beer pong with the young guys. BTW, it was right after Cole’s hat trick, whenever that was.
On another note, I would love to see us aquire a player like Tootoo, someone with lots of “jam” (stuipid word), but at least can hit someone. I swear we are the easiest team to play against.
Someone jump in here with a hits/game stat to prove how smart I am.

We do NOT need Tootoo on this team. The guy is the dirtiest player in the league and complete tool to boot. I would find it tough to cheer for the Oil if he was wearing the Oil drop. Bringing in Tootoo would be worse IMO than brining in Avery.

Problem is, those stats are scored by the home team. I had the SJ feed last night; they showed the Sharks outhitting the Oilers 23-12 near the start of the third. Drew Remenda: "it may not look like it, but the Sharks have nearly doubled the Oilers up in hits." Didn't look like it indeed; the Sharks were outhitting them, no question, but no way was it 2:1.

To my eye, Edmonton's stat counter seems reasonable, and a lot of the other teams too (I think Penner gets shortchanged a bit), but San Jose's was definitely out to lunch last night.

I count hits when I'm scoring games, but I don't put a lot of stock into them. Brownlee would approve; I go by "what I see on the ice." :)

So by getting rid of Cole and adding Ruutu are we fixing the current defense problem? Nope. Are we fixing the pending goaltending problem? Nope. Are we fixing the need for a star to play with Hemsky? Nope. All we are getting is a slight upgrade in a player that will probably go stale under the current coaching regime like so many players before. There are STILL a lot of holes on the team.

@ Rick:
You're right about Souray being a mean SOB, but gloved fists and forearms in the mouth after the whistle in the goal crease don't count.
A lot of the punishment Souray hands out comes in those scrums around the net -- he gets his money's worth in those and it sends a message.

So by getting rid of Cole and adding Ruutu are we fixing the current defense problem? Nope. Are we fixing the pending goaltending problem? Nope. Are we fixing the need for a star to play with Hemsky? Nope. All we are getting is a slight upgrade in a player that will probably go stale under the current coaching regime like so many players before. There are STILL a lot of holes on the team.
Don’t trade anyone until you FMNF and see what happens.

You're right. Maybe the Oilers should just pee their pants and curl up in the fetal position until April 11 comes and goes then . . .

I had to do a double-take when I read in The Journal this morning that Marleau scored his shorty of Tom Gilbert's give away. So it was Gilbert's fault that Horcoff decided to try and feather a ridiculous pass to his backhand instead of shooting the one-timer? If that goes down as an official stat it's sad.

Dangling a pending UFA like Cole will not land a big fish. I don't think you will see any help for Hemmer this season. Ruutu would be good compensation for Cole; who is not likely to light the lamp much more than five times before leaving the Oilers for nothing...

@ Rick:
You’re right about Souray being a mean SOB, but gloved fists and forearms in the mouth after the whistle in the goal crease don’t count.
A lot of the punishment Souray hands out comes in those scrums around the net — he gets his money’s worth in those and it sends a message.

Of course, but my point is that although Cole gets in on the play and the so called hit stat supports it (as much as you want to use that stat) it doesn't necessarily mean that Cole does it in the most impactful way and whan all is said and done you want the players to have an impact with what ever they have to offer.

Personally I don't see the momentum swinging hits or hits that hurt from him. Where as a guy like Souray, who apparently hits half as much, probably has twice the impact in that regard when he does do it.

I wonder if players were given a choice of having Cole coming at him or going in to the corner with Souray, how many would pick Cole over the big defender.

In short, even if the hit stat is accurate, it wouldn't be the reason that I would use to keep Cole around past the deadline.

The Journal this morning that Marleau scored his shorty of Tom Gilbert’s give away.

How about on the 2 on 1 Souray needs to do something. All he did was keep backing up until his heels were in the crease. Pick the man with the puck or without the puck and commit to it. He did nothing and it was an easy tap in for Patty Marleau.

We almost shat a brick when we read the article and we were warming up our fingers to do some old fashioned telling off when we saw that the good Citizens of the Nation had already beaten us to it.

Check the comments:

ryan78 I actually read it on Oilernation first, but Robin Brownlee isn't hearing names just that Carolina is a likely destination.

nosai Way to post this here and claim it to be first when we know you just read it at oilers nation and then wrote this. Way to hurt the credibility of this site even more so. Does eklund have a lack of integrity as a credential for blogging here?

*single tear runs down cheek in appreciation of the OilersNation. Sits back in his chair and opens first beer of the day*

Lashoff looks like a pretty good D man in the Staios mold. He is at the end of his 3 yr deal this year and I guess the Oilers would have to find a way to get him through waivers next year or keep him in the NHL. There might not be enough room for him next year unless they trade Staios or Grebs.

Not crazy about Sobotka - sounds like a more skilled version of Reddox.

Look...I don't read Oilernation. We can either consider it interesting that 2 different people from both sides have a similar idea, or we can make assumptions and assume that the guy from the lesser hockey market copied it and could never think of something like this himself.

See he is doing this all wrong. If I was from Carolina and I was getting ripped by Oilers fans, my comebacks would probably centre around a certain Stanley Cup Game 7 back in 2006. We even have to think of our own disses.

From logging scoring chances for Ty's site, you wouldn't believe how many times scorers are missing SOG so I imagine missing hits is the least of their transgressions. I, too, noticed TR's hit totals when I checked on his counting stats but to his defense, if you've ever watched any Canes hockey you'll know this guy is often times out there just thrownig his body around.

My guess would be that - at least short-term - an acquisition of TR for 26 would mean that 27 is the new winger du jour for 89 and that TR would go up and play the toughs with 10-83.

Going forward it seems the Oilers need to find someone that meshes with 89 like 10-83 do and perhaps it's 27.

Looking at 26's career stats, there's no way you can bring him back in 2010 for what he's making now. I understand the value of his physical play and the guy's money at drawing penalties but I think the plan is to keep 10-83 together and find a partner for 89 and it doesn't look to be Cole.